Posted on 11/29/2008 3:34:35 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
Bipartisan hope springs eternal, even among Washington lawyers. That was the message at the Federalist Society's annual convention last week. After years of obstruction by Senate Democrats, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered President-elect Obama a roadmap for ending the political war over judicial nominations. What Mr. Obama does in his early days in office will reveal a lot about the next four years.
The key, Mr. McConnell explained, is for the new President to govern as he campaigned -- with an eye toward moderation. In 2004, he reminded the audience, the Illinois Senator criticized President Bush's effort to "push a very aggressive agenda that wasn't the way he campaigned." Now we'll see if that was more than political posturing.
A good first gesture would be to renominate some of President Bush's highly qualified judicial picks who have been left to languish for years. Peter Keisler, now nominated to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, is widely considered to have Supreme Court potential. Nominees Steve Matthews and Bob Conrad are strong choices for the Fourth Circuit, allowing the new President to send a signal that he won't play politics with the national security cases that frequently come before that court.
plenty of precedent: Mr. Bush made an effort early in his Administration by renominating Clinton judges Roger Gregory and Barrington Parker. Bill Clinton sent up Republican-appointed district judges for appeals court vacancies in the late 1990s, and they were quickly confirmed by the Senate.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Obama has sent very mixed signals as to how he will govern.
If anybody thinks Obama is going to renominate Bush’s judges in order to prove he’s a centrist, I’ve got some prime farmland in lake Okeechobee I’d like to sell ya.
I just got a fax from Hell. Snowballs are all over the place!
I don’t think McConnell believes it, either. I think McConnell is just setting the scene to call “the annointed one” a hypocrit when it happens.
Govern? I thought he was going to rule.
-PJ
Who cares what McConnell thinks? He blew his wad and lost. Elections have consequences, Mitch. You lost, and took the rest of us down with you. Blah.
The Republicans in the Senate should do unto Democrats as the Democrats have done unto them - and when they whine about it, the Republican leadership can cite precedent.
This of course means that Republican leadership in the US Senate would have to amass the fortitude - intestinal, and testicular - to do it...something that has been lacking lately.
S-u-r-e. If the Dems manage to steal 60 seats in the Senate, it will be funny, in a sick sort of way, to watch Reid crush McConnell and the other dull-whitted Repub senators to death under his treads as he rushes to the Left.
You know that all of the annointed ones judicial nominations are going to make Justice Ginsburg look like Barry Goldwater.
Those judges? not a chance.
In which case, the Democrats would do to the Republicans what the Republicans wouldn't do to the Democrats.
The first GOP filibuster of a judicial nominee will result in Reid "going nuclear". There won't be a "Gang of 14".
Elections Have Consequences.
Neville Chamberlain rides again. What a putz. The GOP hasn’t got a bloody clue as to who the Democrats are, or how they operate.
Expect the worst. That way you can’t be disappoined.
I’m a tad worried instead of going hard left and imploding he may go center or try to “triangulate” with an eye on reelection.
That would be worrisome electorally, but less damaging to the Constitution, with regards to judges.
This is not going to happen. It was just campaign bluster from Obama and he will push to the left. If we’re lucky he’ll nominate Doug Kmiec for a federal circuit court - if we’re lucky. That would be it. Otherwise we won’t even get Anthony Kennedy’s from him.
Not really. We can always beat him on other things. (Besides, no one ever wins elections on judges.) He is just too out of his depth to conduct foreign policy (especially in time of War) and domestic policy (especially in time of financial crisis) without many mistakes. Just sit back and watch.
I know there would be problems but they have so much power, they shouldn’t be chosen for life by lousy Presidents and be totally unaccountable to the public.
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